


Foregone Conclusion

by idrilhadhafang



Series: The Good Timeline [3]
Category: Star Wars: Bloodline - Claudia Gray, The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Backstory, Courtroom Drama, Gen, Past War crimes, Post-Canon, in a weird way, villain origin story
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-14 08:28:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28792446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idrilhadhafang/pseuds/idrilhadhafang
Summary: The eventual trial of Moff Gideon.
Series: The Good Timeline [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2107791
Kudos: 4
Collections: Bad Day Collection, Darkpilot Sentence Starters, Darkpilot YouTube





	Foregone Conclusion

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing. 
> 
> Author’s Notes: What can I say; the idea sounds interesting. Also, Gideon’s backstory here...it’s complicated, how he’s using it. Part of him believes his own bullshit, part of him is manipulating Casterfo. I hope I got them both in-character, at least.

Ransolm Casterfo wasn’t going to lie; he wasn’t looking forward to meeting with Moff Gideon. After all, it was one thing to take on this job of being his Defense Attorney if only to prove that the New Republic was capable of fairness, but this...

This was definitely something else. 

“Be careful of him,” one of the guards said. “Gideon is charming, without a doubt, but he's a serpent at his core. Don’t let your guard down, even once."

Casterfo couldn't disagree with that. 

Even stepping into the holding room where Gideon was, Casterfo didn’t know what to expect of a man who had helped lead the genocide of Mandalore. Gideon was calm, too calm; his eyes steady even as he focused on Casterfo. 

“I didn’t know I was allowed to have visitors,” Gideon said. 

“Not visitors, exactly,” Casterfo said. “I’m your defense lawyer. Not many were eager for the job. I volunteered.”

Gideon looked at him, and Casterfo could swear it was like the man was dissecting him with his eyes. Then, “A Republic Senator, defending a Moff? We live in interesting times indeed.”

”Everyone has the right to a free trial.” Senator Organa had maintained that, even though her distaste for Gideon was clear. True, what he had done to Mandalore brought to mind for her Alderaan’s destruction, and the kidnapping of the Child had struck a nerve as she had a son herself, but principles of fairness and equality won above all else. Casterfo was at least glad she was able to remain objective about that.

”You sound like Senator Organa,” Hask mused. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were mimicking her.”

”Senator Organa and I have a...complicated dynamic. That’s off-topic,” Casterfo said firmly. "I don’t like you, Gideon. Let’s get that out of the way. I don’t like your attitude. I don’t like what you’ve done so far. That, however...I am not going to fail to do my job just because I don’t like you.”

”Lovely,” Gideon said wryly. “So...I presume you’re going to be going into every detail of my childhood to find out how I turned out the way I did? I assure you, Casterfo, you won’t find a thing. I did it because I believed in the Empire.”

”If you’re found guilty, you may be executed,” Casterfo said.

Gideon’s eye twitched, almost imperceptibly. “I know.”

”And perhaps,” Casterfo said, “I can negotiate with the judge to give you a less...deadly sentence. I doubt that execution should be the answer to everything, after all.”

“Idealistic of you.”

”I believe in fairness, Hask. So,” Casterfo said, “How exactly did you get involved with the Empire anyway?”

”I was an ISB agent,” Gideon said. “I don’t see how that’s relevant.”

”Well, how did you get there, exactly?"

Casterfo wouldn’t deny that he was curious for other reasons as well. He was curious about what the Empire had been like, and how certain elements could be used for good. Senator Organa would never approve, but that curiosity was there nonetheless. 

“There’s more, isn’t there?” Gideon said. “I can see it in your eyes.”

Casterfo had to suppress a flinch. “There’s nothing more to it than me wanting to do my job."

”But you want to know.” Gideon paused. “I’ll humor you, Casterfo. My name is Moff Gideon King, though you may more commonly know me as Moff Gideon, and as for joining the Empire...well, never let it be said that they were worse than the Old Republic. The Empire brought some semblance of order; I joined because of that. Of course there were people like Orson Krennic who were just rabid curs you wanted to be well-disposed to you, but me? I joined because the Republic wasn’t doing enough. You see it even now, don’t you? Bickering Senators, greed, deceit...”

”Did you have any personal stake in it?" Casterfo said. In spite of himself, he had to know more, had to understand.

”You could say I always had a fondness for history,” Gideon said. “I read. I had a pretty inquisitive mind. I read about what barbarians the Mandalorians were. The slaughter of Cathar, the inferno they invoked on Eres III. Them calling me a monster is...well, it’s hypocrisy and an ignorance of history.”

Casterfo kept his face impassive. Using history as a justification for slaughter. That was...certainly a justification not seen before. 

Gideon continued. “I had family from Eres III,” he said. “They’d tell me stories about how the plains burn to this day. How the fires are still bright. The people of Eres III never forgot the Mandalorians and never forgave. And the reason the Mandalorians did it was for glory. And that doesn’t even get into what Bo-Katan Kryze has done with the terrorist hate group Death Watch. I suppose sins get washed away clean if you’re on the side of the ‘righteous’.”

He was calm. Too calm. Casterfo had a feeling, too, that Gideon liked hearing himself talk, like he was the most interesting man in the galaxy.

Gideon continued. “The Rebel Alliance is nothing more than a hate group that chooses who’s absolved of their sins and who isn’t. Did you know that there were prisoners on the First Death Star that Skywalker, Solo and Organa didn’t bother going back for? That there were officers with families that had to live with their deaths? That doesn’t even get into Saw Gerrera and his more...questionable tactics.”

”Saw Gerrera technically wasn’t associated with the Rebel Alliance,” Casterfo said. Horribly enough, it was like Gideon had voiced Casterfo’s thoughts. Darker versions, more exaggerated versions painted in chiaroscuro, but there nonetheless. 

“True.” Gideon said. “You want to know more, Casterfo?”

Slowly, feeling like he’d made a deal with someone beyond his comprehension, Casterfo nodded. 

He had a job to do, after all. 


End file.
